Lather making machine



Nov. 2, 1965 J. M. LEVY LATHER MAKING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May e. 1953 ea 9 IO 64 65 s Fig. 5

INVENTOR. BY Jacob M Levy ATTYS.

Nov. 2, 1965 J. M. LEVY 3,215,642

LATHER MAKING MACHINE Filed May 6, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I {30 I I A. C. SOURCE I5 INVENTOR.

Jacob M Levy ATTYS.

United States Patent 3,215,642 LATHER MAKING MACHINE Jacob M. Levy, 6697 Northwest Highway, Chicago 31, Ill. Filed May 6, 1963, Ser. No. 278,226 11 Claims. (Cl. 252-359) This invention relates to a novel lather making machine and, more particularly, to improved tonsorial apparatus for producing shaving lather from liquid soap.

Lather making apparatus has heretofore been proposed for feeding liquid soap to a rapidly rotating rotor or screw and for heating the housing about the screw to convert the liquid soap into lather. Such prior devices commonly used a universal motor to drive the rotor. As the motor itself was relatively expensive and might represent three-fourths of the total cost of such lather making machine, the cost of the lather making machine was high.

Another disadvantage of prior machines was that the initial lather produced by such machines which have been idle for several hours was often too thin and watery due to the fact that the liquid soap was not whipped long enough before being extruded from the Whipping compartment. This thin, watery lather was unsuited for shaving and had to be discarded, thus creating a nuisance effect. Further, in prior constructions wherein the whipping chamber was heated within the heating area proper, or where the whipping chamber and heating area were separated by a common wall, large air bubbles were created in the lather, thus making a lather that was too light in density.

The inefliciency of prior constructions was in part due to the construction and design of the screw-like whipping instrument which was often too small and did not provide adequate whipping or beating of the liquid soap to create a proper lather low in alkali-content, high in water content, yet having rich and creamy consistency.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel lather making apparatus suitable for use both in the barber shop and in the home in which the disadvantages and deficiencies of prior apparatus are overcome.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel highly efiicient lather making machine of relatively inexpensive construction which utilizes a low-cost shaded-pole motor.

A further object of this invention is to provide a lowcost lather making machine having novel whipping means comprising a rotor rotatable within a cylinder, the rotor being driven by a shaded-pole motor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a lather making machine having a novel multiple-angled helically toothed rotor member therein for effectively whipping the liquid soap to provide a rich, creamy shaving lather which is low in alkali content and high in water content.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a lather making machine having unique whipping means comprising a rotor having tapered grooves in the surface thereof disposed within an internally grooved housing member, the housing member being spaced from the heated chamber within the lather making machine.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a liquid soap lather making machine, wherein the components are organized so that the receptacle containing the liquid soap is adequately heated to keep the soap in suspension and the cylindrical member within the rotatable whipping instrument is disposed is substantially insulated from the heat in order that the temperature thereof be about 15 to 20 degrees less than the temperature of the liquid soap, so as to provide for a better and richer lather.

The above and other objects and features of this invention will be more readily apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the lather making machine embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end view, partially in section, of the lather making machine of the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the lather making apparatus of the present invention, with parts broken away, and illustrating an adjustable base for supporting the lather making apparatus;

FIGURE 4 is a detail sectional view of the lather making machine illustrating the orientation of the whipping means within the housing of the lather making machine;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged view of the whipping means, illustrating the cylinder thereof in section;

FIGURE 6 is an end view of the whipping means of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a cross-sectional view of the rotor of the whipping means taken along line 7-7 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 88 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 9 is a cross-sectional View of the rotor taken along line 99 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 10 is a cross-sectional view of the rotor taken along line l010 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 11 is a cross-sectional view of the rotor taken along line 11-11 of FIGURE 5; and

FIGURE 12 is an electrical circuit diagram for the lather making machine.

Referring now to FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, the presently preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a lather making machine 10 having an open-topped unitary housing or casing 11, preferably molded from plastic. Openings 8 may be provided in a side wall of the housing for receiving studs or pins on a wall bracket so as to support the housing 11 on a wall. Provided within the housing 11 and extending substantially the length and width thereof is a receptacle means 13 for liquid soap. The receptacle means 13 is covered by a removable cover 12 having suitable handle means 9 thereon for gripping the same.

Provided in housing 11 adjacent to and beneath the receptacle means 13 is a chamber 14. Within chamber 14 is a heater 15 for warming the liquid soap contained in the receptacle 13 so as to keep the soap particles in solution and provide a homogeneous soap mixture. It is preferable that the liquid soap be heated to a temperature in the range of to C.

Communicating with the bottom of the receptacle 13 and extending downwardly therefrom is a valved conduit means 16, which connects at its bottom with a liquid soap inlet opening in the top of a horizontally elongated cylindrical member 18. The rear of member 18 is spaced from and thus substantially insulated from the wall 17 of the housing 11 defining a portion of chamber 14. The front end of member 18 extends outwardly from an end of housing 11. Disposed within the elongated cylindrical member 18, which preferably is open at each end, is a cylindrical whipping instrument or rotor 20 which cooperates with the cylindrical member 18 to Whip the liquid soap and extrude a rich, creamy lather suitable for shaving from discharge opening 19. The novel cooperation between the member 18 and the rotor 20 will be more fully explained later. The outer end of rotor 20 is journalled by a bearing 21 secured to the housing member 18.

The cylindrical rotor 20 is operatively connected to shaft 23 of the shaded-pole electric motor 22. It is an important feature of the present invention that use he made of a relatively inexpensive shaded-pole electric motor in place of the more expensive universal-type motor which is presently being used in other lather making machines. The whipping means of the present invention is particularly designed for use with a shadedpole motor. The shaded-pole motor rotates at about 3,300 rpm. unloaded, whereas the universal motor rotates at 6,000 to 15,000 rpm. Preferably, I utilize a 2-pole, horsepower shaded-pole motor.

Control means 24 are provided for actuating the valve within the valved conduit means 16. Such means comprise a handle 25 pivotally mounted on pivot pin 26 affixed to an end of the housing 11. The linkage for actuating the valve within the valved conduit means 16 includes a link arm 30 pivotally secured at 29 to a link arm 28. Arm 28 is pivotally connected at 31 to the housing 11. When the handle 25 is pivoted about pivot pin 26, the link arms 28 and 30 will be moved downwardly to open the valve within the conduit means 16 and thus permit the flow of liquid soap from within the receptacle 13 into the cylindrical member 18.

Referring to FIGURE 2, it is seen that the handle 25, which actuates the valve within valved conduit means 16, also actuates the actuating member 32 of electrical switch 33. The electrical switch 33 is in the electrical circuit to the motor 22. When the switch. 33 is energized, the motor will rotate and drive the rotor 20 within the member 18. Thus, it is apparent that when the handle 25 is depressed, the valve within the valved conduit means 16 opens and at the same time, the motor 22 is energized to begin the lather making operation.

In FIGURE 3, there is illustrated a side view of the lather making machine of the present invention, with parts broken away to more clearly show the valved conduit means 16 and with an adjustable base being illustrated at the bottom of the housing 11. The valved conduit means 16 includes a conduit 35 which extends from the bottom of the receptacle 13 to the top of the cylindrical member 18. The flanged top of the conduit 35 engages a washer 36 provided between the flanged top and the bottom of the receptacle for sealing the same and preventing liquid soap from entering the chamber 14 defined within the housing 11 beneath the receptacle 13. The flanged top of the conduit 35 defines a valve seat 37 which is adapted to be engaged by valve 38 affixed to the valve stem 39. The valve stem 39 is pinned to arm 28 as indicated at 40 and is biased to the closed position by the coil spring 41 disposed between the top of the conduit 35 and the bottom of the link arm 28.

The motor 22 is afiixed to the motor mounting bracket 42 by suitable fastening means 44 and bracket 42 is in turn adapted to be connected to the base of the housing 11. The motor mounting bracket includes a vertically disposed wall 43 to which the rear of cylindrical member 18 is secured. Thus, the cylindrical member 18 is se cured at an end to bracket 42 and is connected intermediate its end by conduit 35 which is threadedly connected with the liquid soap receptacle 13.

The housing 11 of the lather making machine 10 of the present invention may be adjustably supported on a table or shelf by means of an adjustable base 45 having a plurality of legs 46 adjustably secured with respect to the base. Suitable fastening means, as for example, screws 47 are provided to connect the base to the bottom of the housing 11. It is noted that the rear screws 47 extend into the horizontally disposed portion of the motor mounting bracket 42 and thus afiix the rear of the bracket 42in place within the housing 11.

As is clearly seen in FIGURES 1-4, the exterior of cylindrical member 18 is spaced from the walls of hous ing 11 and an annular space 48 is defined therebetween. In this manner the heat from within chamber 14, which is necessary to maintain the soap particles in solution and thus provide a homogeneous soap mixture, is effectively insulated from cylinder 18. It is desired that the temperature of the cylindrical member 18 be about to 20 degrees less than the temperature of the liquid soap in receptacle 13. In this manner overheating of mem-. ber 18 and the subsequent deleterious effects on the quality of the lather produced is prevented. To further control the temperature about the cylinder, vent openings 49 may be provided in housing 11 additionally communicating annular space 48 with the atmosphere. The radiant heat reaching member 18 will be adequate to warm the member for proper operation of the whipping means.

In FIGURES 4-11 the novel whipping means of the present invention are more clearly illustrated. The whipping means comprise the housing member 18 made from plastic and being generally cylindrical in shape and the rotor or whipping instrument 20.

The member 18 which is suitably affixed at its rear end to bracket 42 has a plurality of axially extending grooves 53 defined in the inner cylindrical surface thereof. Though the exterior of the member 18 is shown as being cylindrical, it will be apparent that other shapes may be used. The interior surface 54 of the housing 18 extending from the rear thereof to the end of the grooves indicated generally at 55 is smooth.

It has been ascertained that best results are obtained when the grooves 53 have a rounded or generally semicylindrical bottom 56 and are about inch deep. The grooves are somewhat wider than they are deep. Preferably, member 18 is formed with 26 grooves therein and each groove is inch deep and inch wide.

A rotor one and one-half inches in diameter and having an overall length of about five inches has been advantageously used with a shaded-pole drive motor.

The rotor 20 comprises a conveying section, generally coextensive with surface 54 in housing member 18 and a whipping section, generally coextensive with grooves 53. The conveying section of rotor 20 consists of a plurality of threaded or toothed gear portions, with the portions 58 and 59 defining a first part having a relatively steep helix angle and the portions 60, 61, and 62 defining a second part having consecutively lesser helix angles from rear to front. It will be understood that rotor 20 may be integrally formed or may be formed from two or more sections suitably machined or molded. In one presently preferred embodiment of the invention, sections 58 and 59 have helix angles of 70 degrees and the angles of sections 60, 61 and 62 are 50, 40 and 20 degrees, respectively.

The liquid soap flowing through opening 52 will fall upon gear portion 59and be sprayed or carried to the right as viewed in FIGURE 5. The soap is conveyed in the pure liquid state to gear 60 which is the beginning of the second part of the conveying section. No whipping occurs at gears 58 and 59 because of the steep helix angle of these gear sections.

In the second part of the conveying section, as gears 60, 61, and 62, a light beating of the liquid soap commences and bubbles or light foam is formed. The soap reaching the beginning of grooves 53 is in a foamed or bubbly condition and thus is effectively received by the whipping section of rotor 20.

Thus, the functions performed by the conveying section of rotor 20 are (-1) movement of the liquid soap from inlet 52 to gear 60, (2) preliminary mild beating of the liquid soap at gears 60, 61, and 62 to prepare it for effective working and beating in the whipping section, (3) conveying the soap in the form of light foam to the Whipping or beating section of rotor 20, and (4) the prevention of the back-up of thick lather toward the rear end of housing member 18, hence obviating the stoppage of flow of liquid soap through. inlet 52 into housing member 18 and perrnitting continuous operation of the lather producing machine, where desired.

The whipping section of rotor 20 may be comprised of a plurality of gear sections 64-69. Defined in the periphery of the gear sections in the whipping section of rotor 20 are a plurality of groove means which taper or widen toward the discharge end of rotor 20. The grooves 70 in each gear section are in alignment with one another and cooperate to define a plurality of helical grooves in the exterior surface of rotor 20.

Liquid soap, which may be formulated for producing shampoo lather for washing the hair or lather suitable for shaving, is conveyed from the inlet 52 to gear section 64 by the gear members in the conveying section of rotor 20. At gear sections 64, the beating of the semi-liquid or foamed soap into a lather begins. Paddles or teeth for beating and whipping the semi-liquid soap into a lather are formed by the ridges 71 between adjacent grooves 70 in rotor 20. The lather is less dense than the semi-liquid soap and requires more space for proper expansion of the volume thereof for proper whipping. Accordingly, the grooves 70 are widened toward the discharge end of rotor 20, as is clearly seen in FIGURES 5-11. The tapering of grooves 70 increases the efiiciency of the lather making process and facilitates the extrusion of the lather from the whipping means.

The helix angle of grooves 70 of rotor 20 was found to be of critical importance. The most effective helix angle was determined to be degrees. This angle is critical for if it is too small the extrusion process is adversely effected and lather will tend to back up into the conveying section between housing 18 and rotor 20. On the other hand if the helix angle were too large, the resultant lather would be of poor, thin consistency and would be extruded more slowly than is desired.

Suflicient clearance must be provided between the rotor 20 and the cylindrical member 18 to permit a proper beating and discharge of lather from the discharge opening 19. A radial clearance of 0.030 inch has proven very successful. To assure maintenance of the desired clearance, the end of the rotor 20 is journaled in bearing 21 and the bearing is secured to the end face of the cylindrical member 18.

The components of the novel whipping means cooperate to provide a rich, creamy lather at high speed with quick extrusion from the discharge end of member 18. The lather is low in alkali content for with the present invention improved whipping of the liquid soap is effected and the mixture of liquid soap may have a higher water to soap ratio than is ordinarily considered desirable.

Turning now to FIGURE 12, there is illustrated a schematic wiring diagram of electrical circuit of my lather making machine. It will be noted that the heater is provided across the line so that whenever the leads L and L are connected to a suitable source of power, as for example, a 115 volt, 15 ampere source of alternating current, the heater will be energized to heat the liquid soap confined within the receptacle 13. Provided in series with the motor 22 is the switch 33. Thus, it will be seen that the motor 22 will be actuated whenever the switch 33 is closed.

Operation Briefly to summarize the operation of my device, the cover 12 is removed from housing 11 to fill receptacle 13 with liquid soap. By means of a conventional electric wall plug, the lather making machine 10 may be connected to a source of electrical power. The heater 15 is connected electrically across the line and will be energized to heat the liquid soap within the receptacle 13. Typically, a 10- -watt heater may be utilized.

When one desires to shave, he need merely press the handle 25, simultaneously actuating the motor 22 and opening the valve 38 within the valved conduit means 16. The liquid soap will pass from receptacle 13 into cylindrical housing member 18 and will be conveyed from the helically-grooved portion 59 to grooved or gear portions 60, 61 and 62. Preliminary mild beating of the liquid soap occurs in sections 60, 61 and 62 and the liquid soap is subdivided and mixed with air to form a light foam. This light foaming is necessary to avoid passing liquid soap through the whipping instrument. Therefore, in effect, the rotor is comprised of (1) a conveying section having a first part (gears 58 and 59) for conveying liquid 6 soap to gears 60, 61 and 62, and a second part or intermediate stage (gears 60, 61 and 62) for mildly beating the liquid soap and forming a light foam and (2) a beating section which receives the light foam and beats it intensively into a thick lather. The teeth or gears of the rotor 20 in conjunction with the teeth or gears of the housing member 18 produce an intensive beating effect upon the soap as the rotor 20 is rotated and thus provide a lather of rich and creamy consistency. The discharge end of the cylindrical member is disposed adjacent the handle 25 so that with one hand, the operator can actuate the control means and at the same time, receive the lather discharging from the discharge end of the cylindrical member 18.

It is to be noted that the cylindrical member 18 is not directly heated by the heater 15 Within the chamber 14 in the housing 11. The member 18 is spaced from and thereby partially insulated from wall 17 of housing 11. In prior designs, the cylindrical member was often in the heating chamber, thereby overheating and producing a lather that was light weight and filled with air bubbles. By spacing the housing member 18 from the wall 17 of housing 11, member 18 will be partially insulated and the temperature thereof will .be maintained within desirable limits. Vents 49 may be provided in the wall of housing 11 to further communicate annular space 48 with the atmosphere.

The later making machine of the present invention effectively utilizes a shaded-pole motor and improved whipping means to produce a uniformly rich and creamy lather in an eflicient manner. Further, the machine is relatively inexpensive and convenient to use, ad thus is suitable for use in the home as well as in the barber shop.

While I have illustrated and described a presently preferred machine embodying my invention, it will be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, since it may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a lather-producing device, the combination of a horizontally elongated housing member having a bore therethrough and being open and substantial-1y unobstructed at each end, one of said openings comprising a discharge opening, said housing member having a soap inlet opening in the top thereof adapted to receive liquid soap, said housing member having a plurality of axially extending grooves and paddles therein; a cylindrical whipping member rotatable in said housing member and having a plurality of surface grooves thereon there being radial clearance between said whipping member and the surface defining the bore in said housing member, said whipping member producing lather as it rotates and discharging the same through the discharge opening, said cylindrical whipping member having a first helically threaded section at least as long as the grooves in said cylindrical member, the angle of helix of said first threaded section being relatively small, and a second helically threaded section extending from adjacent said first section to a position beneath said soap inlet opening, the angle of helix of said second threaded section being considerably larger than the angle of helix of said first threaded section, said second threaded section conveying said liquid soap to said first threaded section and said first threaded section cooperating with said paddles in said housing member to produce a rich, creamy-textured lather, and a shaded-pole motor operably secured to said cylindrical whipping member for rotating said cylindrical whipping member.

2. A lather-producing device as in claim 1, wherein the outer diameter of said whipping member is on the order of one and one-half inches.

3. A lather-producing device as in claim 1, wherein the helix angle of the threads on said first section is on the order of 10 degrees.

4. A lather-producing device as in claim 1, wherein the depth of each of the grooves in the housing member is on the order of one-eighth inch.

5. A lather-producing device as in claim 1, wherein the radial clearance between the exterior of the whipping member and the interior of the housing member is approximately 0.030 inchv 6. A lather-producing device as in claim 1, wherein the grooves in said cylindrical whipping member increasingly widen toward the discharge end of said cylindrical whipping member.

7. A lather-producing machine as in claim 1, wherein the grooves in the housing member are each constructed and arranged so that the Width thereof is always more than the depth thereof.

8. In a lather-producing device for liquid soap, the combination of a horizontally elongated housing member having a bore therethrough and being open and substantially unobstructed at each end, one of said openings comprising a discharge opening, said housing member having a soap inlet opening in the top thereof adapted to receive liquid soap, said housing member having a plurality of grooves therein extending from a place adjacent the soap inlet opening to the discharge opening, each of said grooves in said housing member being axial-1y oriented and each of said grooves having a rounded bottom, a cylindrical whipping member rotatable in said housing member and having a plurality of surface grooves and paddles thereon there being radial clearance between said whipping member and said housing member, said Whipping member producing lather as it rotates and discharging the same through the discharge opening said grooves increasing in size towad the discharge end of said whipping member for facilitating extrusion of the lather, said cylindrical whipping member having a first helically threaded section coextensive with the grooves in said housing member, the angle of helix of said first threaded section being on the order of 10 degrees, and a second helically threaded section extending from adjacent said first section to a position beneath said soap inlet opening, the angle of helix of said second threaded section being considerably larger than the angle of helix of said first threaded section, said second threaded sec-- tion conveying said liquid soap to said first threaded sec tion and said first threaded section cooperating with said paddles in said housing member to produce a rich, creamytextured lather and a shaded-pole motor operatively connected to said whipping member for rotating same.

9. A device for producing lather from liquid soap comprising a casing, receptacle means for liquid soap in said casing, a horizontally elongated cylindrical member'having a soap inlet opening intermediate the ends thereof in communication with said receptacle means for receiving liquid soap therefrom, said cylindrical member having a first open end and a second open discharge end, valve means for controlling the passage of liquid soap from said receptacle means into said cylindrical member, a cylindrical rotor member rotatably mounted within said cylindrical member for producing lather from the liquid soap, there being radial clearance between said rotor member and said cylindrical member, said cylindrical rotor member having a first helical-1y threaded section thereon, the angle of helix of said first threaded section being relatively small, and a second helically threaded section extending from adjacent said first section to a position beneath said soap inlet opening in the elongated cylindrical member, the angle of helix of said second threaded section being considerably larger than the angle of helix of said first threaded section, said second threaded section conveying said liquid soap to said first threaded section and said first threaded section cooperating with paddles defined on said cylindrical member to produce a rich, creamy-textured lather, and a shaded-pole electric motor in said casing for driving said rotor member.

10. A device as in claim 9, wherein said casing has a chamber defined therein adjacent said liquid soap receptacle and a heater in said chamber for heating the liquid soap in said receptacle, said cylindrical member being spaced from said chamber so as to minimize heat transfer from said heater in said chamber to the walls of said cylindrical member.

11. A device as in claim 9, wherein said second threaded section comprises a first part for conveying liquid soap and a second part for lightly whipping the liquid soap into a light lather and conveying said light lather to said first threaded section for intensive beating.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 512,528 1/94 Williams 146-l90 2,057,791 10/36 Rolstad 252359.5 2,756,102 7/56 Switzer 252-3595 3,008,505 11/61 Pavia 146-18.4

NORMAN YUDKOFF, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A LATHER-PRODUCING DEVICE, THE COMBINATION OF A HORIZONTALLY ELONGATED HOUSING MEMBER HAVING A BORE THERETHROUGH AND BEING OPEN AND SUBSTANTIALLY UNOBSTRUCTED AT EACH END, ONE OF SAID OPENINGS COMPRISING A DISCHARGE OPENING, SAID HOUSING MEMBER HAVING A SOAP INLET OPENING IN THE TOP THEREOF ADAPTED TO RECEIVE LIQUID SOAP, SAID HOUSING MEMBER HAVING A PLURALITY OF AXIALLY EXTENDING GROOVES AND PADDLES THEREIN; A CYLINDRICAL WHIPPING MEMBER ROTATABLE IN SAID HOUSING MEMBER AND HAVING A PLURALITY OF SURFACE GROOVES THEREON THERE BEING RADIAL CLEARANCE BETWEEN SAID WHIPPING MEMBER AND THE SURFACE DEFINING THE BORE IN SAID HOUSING MEMBER, SAID WHIPPING MEMBER PRODUCING LATHER AS IT ROTATES AND DISCHARGING THE SAME THROUGH THE DISCHARGE OPENING, SAID CYLINDRICAL WHIPPING MEMBER HAVING A FIRST HELICALLY THREADED SECTION AT LEAST AS LONG AS THE GROOVES IN SAID CYLINDRICAL MEMBER, THE ANGLE OF HELIX OF SAID FIRST THREADED SECTION BEING RELATIVELY SMALL, AND A SECOND HELICALLY THREADED SECTION EXTENDING FROM ADJACENT SAID FIRST SECTION TO A POSITION BENEATH SAID SOAP INLET OPENING, THE ANGLE OF HELIX OF SAID SECOND THREADED SECTION BEING CONSIDERABLY LARGER THAN THE ANGLE OF HELIX OF SAID FIRST THREADED SECTION, SAID SECOND THREADED SECTION CONVEYING SAID LIQUID SOAP TO SAID FIRST THREADED SECTION AND SAID FIRST THREADED SECTION COOPERATING WITH SAID PADDLES IN SAID HOUSING MEMBER TO PRODUCE A RICH, CREAMY-TEXTURED LATHER, AND A SHADED-POLE MOTOR OPERABLY SECURED TO SAID CYLINDRICAL WHIPPING MEMBER FOR ROTATING SAID CYLINDRICAL WHIPPING MEMBER. 